US newspapers are showing stronger advertising revenue performances than had been expected, sending signals of a possible ad recovery to the industry, according to a report in the Editor and Publisher.
The article says that Merrill Lynch had expected a 7% year on year decline in revenue during February, but that figures were coming in closer to a 4-5% slip.
Recovery not certain as advertisers remain cautious However, a recovery is far from certain, with the US Conference Board showing most indicators as flat in February, after four months of growth. In addition, many advertisers are still waiting until the last minute before booking inventory.
A similar response by advertisers to the prevailing conditions is being seen in the UK market, not only in press buying, but across a range of media.
The consensus amongst media owners is that UK advertising is still generally weak, with poor visibility, according to Insight’s March edition of Media Healthcheck (see Insight Analysis: Media Healthcheck – March 2002). Whilst signs of improvement are emerging, the market is still not healthy.
“In press virtually all clients don’t know what they will be spending this year and many are not spending anything at all. Only one or two have any forward plan; most are ad-hoc. Newspaper owners have decreased pagination to increase demand,” said a senior media buyer, adding that: “Outdoor companies, which normally sell only off the rate card, are now offering many discounts.”
Analysts at ABN Amro said that it is consumer spend, rather than advertising, which is currently driving UK media growth (see Consumer Spend Drives Media Industry Growth).
